He handed a bribe and was convicted. President of the Central Bank of Slovakia in trouble

The president of the Central Bank of Slovakia Peter Kazimir was sentenced to a fine of 200,000 on Thursday. euro for the presentation of bribes a few years ago to the then head of tax administration. In exchange for a bribe, Kazimir demanded to pay excessive tax breaks to selected companies.

According to the accusation, a bribe of 48 thousand. The euro took place in 2018, when Kazimir was the finance minister.

If Kazimir does not pay a fine, he will be converted to a year in prison.

The verdict is unlawful.

Kazimir was not present at the announcement of the sentence. He justified himself by a business trip to Hong Kong. Even before the court meeting, he announced an appeal. In the recording prepared in advance, he argued that he was innocent.

The defense of the head of the Central Bank proved that bribery is a crime that in the case of Kazimir should be expired, in accordance with the Penal Code recently amended by the government of Robert Ficy. The judge, however, retrained the case and issued a judgment on the basis of damage to the European Union's finances. Slovakia belongs to the euro area since 2009, and so in this country crimes related to VAT are treated in this country.

The term of office of the head of the Central Bank ends on June 1, but Kazimir is to hold it until the successor is selected. In the years 2012-2019 he was the Minister of Finance in the offices of Robert Ficy and Peter Pellegrini. Later he headed the central bank.

Piotr Górecki (PAP)

PTG/ AKL/